~ Jenn in Real (Mid) Life: Cupcakes, Dachshunds & Auntdom, Oh My!

Tag Archives: nephews

I like to bake. If you have been following my blog for a while you have read about the ongoing Cupcake Projects. I am halfway through Cupcake Project 3.0. I enjoy it mostly because I like to share with others. Truth is, I am not the biggest cake fan.

My friend, Jill, and I took four months worth of cake decorating classes a few years back. It was fun and I learned a lot from it. I have no desire to do it on a regular basis, but it made me appreciate the art of cakes (and those that make them.)

I have obviously made cakes for family members or holidays. My nieces & nephews generally get a cupcake recipe of their choice on their birthday. Occasionally, they will want a cake. Nephew #2 has gotten a few cake & cupcake choices for his birthdays.

Transformer Cake

Perry The Platypus Cupcakes. I loved these!

Niece #1 generally wants a simpler cupcake recipe. She is not a flashy girl. (Thanks, Noodle for making your birthday easy on me.)

And then there is Niece #3. I love this girl. She is crazy & bold. She is bright & colorful. And this year after seeing a similar cake at my local favorite bakery, it was decided that she wanted the Rainbow Sprinkle Cake. Challenge accepted!

The original cake was eight layers and was a smaller circumference. It was beautiful. I must admit, I was in awe of it. So when Niece #3 turned 12 a couple of weeks ago, I knew that it was time for the cake to be made. We had a nice family birthday dinner closer to her actual birthday. Pretty standard for birthdays around these parts. No cake needed. But wait, there is the upcoming friend party. The important party, when you are turning 12.

We agreed that it would only be four layers, because well no one really needs eight layers. Actually, no one really needs four layers either but you got to make it worth the rainbow title. She decided on blue, green, yellow & orange as the cake colors she wanted. I tried to push for a purple or at least a pink. But when the birthday girl has made up her mind, it is done.

I started my journey with a trip to the grocery store. You need eggs etc., to make a proper cake. And you need sprinkles. Nearly 3 lbs of sprinkles to be exact. As my husband will tell you, I tend to over-estimate when it comes to these kind of ingredients at times. However, better have too much, than be running to the store because you ran out of something you needed in the middle of making it. And I have had to do that too…

So last Saturday morning, I got up early. (For me anything earlier than 8 on a Saturday, is early.) And began the task of the Rainbow Sprinkle cake.

The cake process is easy. Have stand mixer, will bake. The dividing of the cake evenly proved to be a little more difficult but I made it work. And let me tell you that the colors you can make with Wilton Gel Color are amazing.

Next I got all four layers baked, cooled and frosting made. And the construction begins.

The nice thing with covering a cake with sprinkles is that your frosting does not have to be perfect, it just has to hold the sprinkles. And oh the sprinkles. SO MANY SPRINKLES!

But after nearly an hour of covering the outside of the cake with sprinkles by hand, we have success! And we have a cake of pure sugar. I must thank my dog, Oscar, for his continued cleaning of anything edible dropped on the floor. I can always count on him to clean up the kitchen. In this case, I am a little surprised that he did not get sick from the amount of sprinkles that he ate. And that he did not shit rainbows for a couple of days after. (Disclaimer-No dogs were involved in the baking of this or any other cake. Other than eating dropped things on the floor, of course.)

I must say that I was pretty proud of the completed cake.

And it managed to fit in my cake carrier just enough to keep it firmly in place. I was slightly worried that it wouldn’t fit, but we made it work.

At the party

Niece #3 was impressed. Her friends were impressed. My sister-in-law was grateful for one less thing to worry about. But the thing that mattered most to me, was that the birthday girl was happy.

Birthday Girl

And I completed another challenge that I made for myself.

The inside. Please excuse my poor cutting job.

And the Rainbow Sprinkle Cake will forever reign in infamy, as the coolest birthday cake ever. Well, at least in my family.

TA-DA!

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